Improvement in life-boats and mattresses



E. u. sHAnTAu.

Life Boats and Mattresses.

Patented Sept. 22,1874.

Wf/Wffff Y,

THE GRAPHIC CO. PHDTD-LITHJQXv-l PARK PLACE,N.Y.

UNITED STATES.l

PATENT CEE-ICE.

EILERT o.` sonAnTAU, oEjNEw ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN LIFE-BOATS AND MATTRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 155,169, datedSeptember'QQ, 1874 2 application filed January 17, 1874.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, E. 0. SCHARTAU, of NewOrleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Combined Life- Boat and Mattress;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsand to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part thisspecification.

A mattress, in order that it can practically and to anyv great advantagebe adopted as a life-preserver of sufficient bearing power, must be solight that it can without difficulty be carried,and,ifcircumstan cesrequire it,be launched in the water, by the feeble arms of a woman.Further, it is of the utmost importance, at a time when, on the ship,everything is confusion and panic, that the arrangement of convertingthe mattress into a life-boat should be so simple, perfect, andunfailing that no time is lost and no mistake done for the immediate andeii'ective use of the life-boat.

To greatly increase the bearing power of a mattress, for the purpose ofutilizing the same as a life-preserver without augmenting its size oradding considerably to its weight, is the object of my invention; and

The nat-ure of my invention consists in the construction and arrangementof a mattress to be converted, when occasion requires it, into alife-boat, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation, referring to the annexed drawings, in which-Figure l is a bottom view of my mattress. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsection of the same; and Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the liney y, Fig. 2.

A represents the covering of the mattress, made of any suitablewaterproof material, and the mattress is constructed, as it were, infour or more comparatively air-tight tubes or canals, B B, which arefilled to their full capacity with the lightest kind of material-as, forinstance, prepared cork or cypress wood, feathers, hair, or straw, whichare rendered water-proof by any of the known methods. I introduce,longitudinally or otherwise, through the mattress two or more tubes, CC, of wire-gauze, or other suitable perforated material, for the purposeof producing a circulation of air, thus keeping the mattress always in afresh and proper condition. To the edge of the mattress, and entirelysurrounding the same, is attached a siding, D, of suitable waterproofexible material, which lies folded and evenon the under side of themattress, but is to be raised by suitable means, when instantly themattress offers to the shipwrecked almost the advantage of a life-boat,the siding D becoming, as it were, a bulwark all around, giving to themattress, by the very nature of its relative position, an increase offloating or supporting capacity. The sides of the siding D areprovidedat their edges with a metal bar, b, and to each end of the siding isattached the head of a T-shaped rod, d, the other end of which fastensin a lock, e, projecting from a metal strap, f, attached in the centerof the mattress. When the ends of the rods d d have entered this lockthey are fastened by means of hinged or pivoted bails or staples h h, asshown. The mattress may be lowered safely down by suitable means. Erepresents a cloth attached to a roller, k, mounted in ears projecting'from or attached to one of the bars b.. When the weather is rough thiscloth is to be unwound and spread over the siding for protecting thelife-boat from being filled with water. It is kept in position by meansof ropes m, having each a wooden ball, u, said ropes being fastened tothe sides of the mattress, and the bales passed through loops p fastenedto the edge of the covering. To the sides of the mattress are attachedlooped ropes s, which enable the shipwrecked to hold onto the mattresswith more security and less fatigue.

The combined mattress and life-boat thusconstructed is, of course, to beprovided with suitable paddles or oars, and also with whistles to givesignals.

One or more boards of equal surface with the mattress may be combinedwith it, and provided with more or less water-proof cloth between themto increase the area of the float ing surface, if so desired.

Having thus fully described my invention7 what I claim as new7 anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, with a mattress, A, and siding I), of the bars or rodsd d and look e h, substantially as and for the purposes herein setforth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing; as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two Witnesses.

EILERT O. SCHARTAU.

Witnesses:

A. ABAT, I. S. BAQUIE.

